West Wichita restaurant closes after 4 months, but another is ready to move in

There's a new restaurant moving into the space at 2330 N. Maize Road where another one just closed.

Jesus and Luz Martinez plan to open a Mexican restaurant called Rancho Nuevo in the space where Samurai Sushi and Steakhouse just closed after about four months in business. The new restaurant should open in early June.

The couple is from Nevada, but after both of their children enrolled at Wichita State University, they decided to move. Jesus, who spent his career working in his brother's Mexican restaurants in Nevada, decided to open a place of his own here.

His daughter, Andrea, who is studying biomedical engineering at WSU, said her parents always dreamed of running their own restaurant.

They'll serve dishes familiar to Wichita, including tacos, burritos and enchiladas, she said. Their specialty will be fajitas.

Also, diners will love the various salsas that Jesus makes, Andrea said.

"My dad is very passionate about his salsas," she said.

The restaurant will have a bar and will sell margaritas as well as cantaritos, which are tequila drinks made with citrus juices.

It will open daily for lunch and dinner, and the menu will include lunch specials, Andrea said.

Ranch Nuevo is the fourth restaurant to give the space at 2330 N. Maize Road a go since July 2015, when Borrocco Mexican Grill opened there but closed after five months.

The spot, which sits just behind the Dillons at 21st and Maize Roads, sat empty until February 2017, when Las Trojas Mexican Grill opened. But it closed after nine months. Samurai had just opened in late December.

This story was originally published May 1, 2018 at 4:53 PM with the headline "West Wichita restaurant closes after 4 months, but another is ready to move in."